King Hedley II

This last set of scenes contains several important moments of dialogue. Ruby and Tonya discuss the way violence has impacted their lives and the men with whom they’ve had relationships. King learns to question the role that retributive violence plays in his personal honor code. Each character in some way begins to mend their broken relationships, but although positive change seems imminent, King meets a tragic, violent end.

Scene 3 further explores the gendered experience of Structural Racism and the American Dream through Tonya and Ruby’s conversation. Tonya has already expressed her unwillingness to bring another child into such a broken and hopeless world, but in this set of scenes, she expounds upon her specific worries about King. She does not want to be the wife of a permanently incarcerated man, and because King is selling stolen refrigerators and engaging in robbery, she is not sure that their relationship should continue. After she speaks with King, she talks to Ruby. Ruby, too, has had relationships with men who were in and out of prison, and although neither woman is judgmental in their assessment of incarceration, they do note the heartbreak of being repeatedly torn away from their loved ones: “They don’t know it’s hard on you. They don’t think about that” (78). The cyclical violence and mass incarceration plaguing their community is a source of anguish and concern for both women. They, like their partners, want the middle-class lifestyle promised by the American Dream, but structural racism renders that lifestyle inaccessible.

King finally comes to see the error of his ways in this last set of scenes. He realizes that Pernell was a complex, multifaceted man, just like him, and that he robbed Pernell of the chance to live the rest of his life. Central to this revelation is King’s realization that Pernell was a father: King not only robbed Pernell of his ability to live out his full life, but he also took a father away from a son. King himself is a fatherless son, and like Pernell’s son, he lost his father to violence. He now understands that his effort to achieve justice by killing Pernell only caused another crime that will need to be avenged, perpetuating violence and suffering in his community. He can see the error in his code of honor, and it is clear that he is capable of real, meaningful change.

That spirit of redemption and reconciliation continues in the last two scenes, and Fractured Familial Bonds are portrayed in a more hopeful light. King seems to be trying to repair his relationship with Tonya. He tells her his realization about Pernell, and the two talk about Pernell’s son. He needs to come to terms with his own actions before repairing the bond that he and Tonya share, and he seems to be on the road to doing so. He and Mister also talk further about their plans for a video store, and it is clear that King is acting on what he’s learned about the power of community and friendship: He and Mister need each other to succeed in their legal venture. Elmore, too, is acting on his newfound sense of self-awareness: Like King, he has realized the futility of violence and decides to marry Ruby.

Amid these revelations and reconciliations, the tragedy of the last scene is all the more striking. Although King and Elmore both seem to have gained a better understanding of the big-picture implications of their actions and have begun to question the utility of violence, they fall back on anger in their final argument. Mister, long used to supporting his friend, goads the two on, screaming “blood for blood” (97), which becomes a devastating mantra. Ultimately the two men choose not to engage in acts of violence against the other, a powerful indication of the possibility of change. However, King falls victim to an accidental shooting, Wilson’s reminder that the cycle of violence is nearly impossible to escape, even for those who desire to do so.